David richardson



(No Model.)

D. RICHARDSON. eovnmmn FOR FLUID MOTORS.

No. 556,476. Patented Mar. 17, 1896'.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DAVID RICHARDSON, OF FOOTSCROY, VICTORIA.

GOVERNOR FOR FLUID-MOTORS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 556,476, dated March 17, 1896. Application filed September 12, 1895. Serial No. 562,248. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, DAVID RICHARDSON, a citizen of the Colony of Victoria, residing at Footscroy, in said Colony, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Governors for Fluid-Motors, of which the following specification is a true and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part thereof.

My invention relates to the construction of governing mechanism whereby the flow of the motive fluid to motors actuated thereby is controlled and regulated by the amount of work thrown upon the motor, and in such a manner as to preserve, under varying conditions as to the work, a substantially uniform speed of rotation.

A further object of my invention is to provide means for regulating the flow of fluid by hand, which is desirable in the starting of the motor and until a substantially uniform speed has been attained sufficient to bring the regular governing mechanism into active operation; and a further object is to provide means for adjusting the governing mechanism whereby the normal position of the parts for any given speed may be varied and the amount or direction of the flow of fluid varied accordingly.

In carrying my invention into effect I employ a cylinder having ports leading to its top and bottom, a valve controlling the admission and discharge of fluid from .the respective ends of the cylinder, a piston working in the cylinder and connected to the gate, nozzle, or other device directly affecting the flow of fluid to the motor, centrifugal governor actuated by a shaft moved by the motor, and a link-motion actuated by the movement of the piston or connected part, the centrifugal governing device and the link -motion being both connected to the controlling-valve of the cylinder, and the link-motion being of such a character that it will move the valve in the opposite direction to that in which it is moved by the centrifugal governor and so as to close the valve during the motion of the piston, which immediately follows its opening through the action of the governor.

The nature of my invention and its adaptability for the various purposes in view will be best understood as described in connection with the drawings in which it is illustrated, and in which- Figure 1 is an elevation, or rather diagram, illustrating the application of my invention to the regulation of the direction of flow of a stream of water to a jet-wheel, while Fig. 2 is a view illustrating an ordinary form of turbine-wheel, and showing how readily my invention can be applied to the regulation of the amount of flow of such motors.

A indicates the jet-wheel, which may be of any ordinary construction, A indicating the main shaft driven by said wheel, and A a pulley thereon.

B is the jet-nozzle pivotally supported at C and connected at its rear end with a supply pipe B.

D is a lever pivoted at D and having its short arm connected by link D with the jetnozzle, and its longer arm connected by a link or rod E with the piston-rod F of a piston F moving in a cylinder G, G being a valve chamber, G an admission-port for fluid under pressure leading to said valve-chamber G and G ports or passages leading from the valve-chambers to the tops and bottoms of the cylinder G and G exhaust ports or passages leading from the valve-chamber.

H indicates a valve by which the flow of fluid to and from the cylinder is controlled, and H indicates a valve rod or spindle. It is obvious, of course, that while valve H is in the position shown in the drawings-namely, covering both the ports G and G piston F will remain stationaryin the cylinder. A motion of the valve to the right hand will permit the entrance of the fluid from the admissionport to the top of the cylinder and the exhaust of the fluid in the bottom of the cylinder through the ports G" and G, in consequence of which the piston will move downward and, acting on the nozzle B through the links and levers described, will raise it toward the wheel A. A motion of the valve H in the opposite or lefthand direction reverses the motion of the piston and in consequence draws the jetnozzle downward.

, L is a centrifugal governor, L being the sliding member thereof the said governor be ing secured on a rotating shaft K driven by a belt M, or any convenient means, from the main shaftA. As shown, the moving member L of the governor is connected with the upper end of a lever J, and supposing for the present that the lower end of the lever is secured to a fixed pivot at N it will be seen that each motion of the centrifugal governor will act upon the valve H, which is connected with the lever J through a link 1, any increase in the speed of the shaft K causing the balls of the governor to fly out and moving the valve H toward the left with the consequence of drawing the jet-nozzle downward away from the wheel, while a diminution of speed will have the opposite effect.

It is of course obvious that if the centrifugal governor were the only device acting upon the valve there would be but one position of the governor in which the ports leading to the cylinder would be closed, and consequently the piston F would be practically always in motion, rising or falling, having no fixed position corresponding to any speed but one. I wish, however, to provide a fixed position for the piston and have the device governed by it corresponding to each speed of rotation, and I therefore provide a link-motion actuated by the movements of the piston and acting upon the governing-valve of such a character that after each movement of the valve by the centrifugal governor the second motion of the piston will restore the valve to its normal closed position. Such a device may be constructed in many ways. For instance, in its most elemental form it might consist simply of a bell-crank lever, such as O O, pivoted to a fixed point 0 having one. arm connected with a piston-rod F and its other arm connected with the lower end of the leverJ, as by link N. Obviously,by this construction, after each movement of the valve consequent on a change in the position of the governor the motion of piston F acting on the bell-crank lever, and through it on the lever J, will move the lower end of the lever in the opposite direction to that in which the centrifugal governor has just moved its upper end and will thus tend to restore the valve to its normal position.

The proportioning of the various parts of the link device determines how far the piston should move after each change in the position of the balls of the governor. As shown, I connect the horizontal arm of the bell-crank lever O O with an intermediate portion of a lever P, the connection being at P, and the right hand of the lever P, I connect by a link Q with the lever D, the left-hand end of the lever P being pivotally connected to a stationary device, as rack B. By this mode of connection the motion of the bell-crank lever is derived from the piston through the pistonrod, link-rod E, lever D, link Q, and pivoted lever P, the proportions of the various elements of link mechanism being adapted to give what Ihave found to be the proper motion to the valve H.

In order to enable the amount or direction of flow of the fluid to the motor to be regulated by hand, and also to enable me to vary the amount or direction of flow corresponding to any given position of the centrifugal governor, I make the pivotal connection of the lever P adjustable, providing, for instance,

a rack R in which its left-hand end is free to move up and down, and a detent, as S, for securing it in any desired position. \Vhen the left-hand end of lever P is moved down, it moves the valve to the left and when up to the right. In this way the amount or direction of flow can be regulated by hand before the speed of the motor is sufficient to set the centrifugal governor in operation, and obviously, also, the adjustment has the effect. of changing the direction or amount of flow corresponding to the various positions of the centrifugal governor.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. Mechanism for regulating the flow of fluids to fluid-motors having in combination a cylinder G provided with ports for the admission and discharge of fluid from each end thereof, a valve H governing the admission and discharge of fluid to said cylinder, a piston moving in said cylinder and arranged to actuate the device which immediately regulates the flow of fluid to the motor, a centrifugal governor actuated by a shaft driven by the motor, a lever D actuated by the piston, a lever P pivoted at one end and connected at its other end to lever D, a bell-crank lever O O pivotally connected to lever P at one end and a lever J pivotally connected to said bellcrank at one end, to the governor at the other end, and to the valve at an intermediate point.

2. Mechanism for regulating the flow of fluids to fluid-motors having in combination a cylinder G provided with ports for the ad mission and discharge of fluid from each end thereof, a valve H governing the admission and discharge of fluid to said cylinder, a piston moving in said cylinder and arranged to actuate the device which. immediately regulates the flow of fluid to the motor, a centrifugal governor actuated by a shaft driven by the motor, a lever D actuated by the piston, a lever P having an adjustable pivotal connection at one end and connected at its other end to lever D, a bell-crank lever O O pivotally connected to lever P at one end, and a lever J pivotally connected to said bell-crank at one end, to the governor at the other end, and to the valve at an intermediate point.

DAVID RICHARDSON. \Vitnesses:

GEORGE YoUELL, HENRY E. RICHARDSON. 

